This album starts off with “Meet Me In The Hallway”, and right off that bat you can tell that Harry is certainly going for more of a rock vibe on this one. But honestly what does that even mean anymore? However, I’m surprised in just the amount of rock influence that DOES go into this one. However, I’d be lying if I said this is what I was hoping to hear. There’s almost a psychedelic vibe here in the atmosphere, obviously Harry’s been boning up on his classic rock. Some of the more straightforward moments here, like when Harry really comes out of his shell for that chorus are actually seriously decent. But the rest of “Meet Me In The Hallway” is seriously head scratching, and its sort of confusing on what he’s actually going for. Up next however, Harry saves this album from being a complete snooze fest with “Sign of the Times”. Just from these opening piano notes, this is actually pretty epic right off the bad. I’ve said it before, and I’ll end up saying it plenty of more times as well: A good pop song is a good pop song. And “Sign of the Times” my friends is a good pop song. Harry hear doesn’t even sound like a pop star or his usual very glamorous self. He sounds beat down, tired of listening to all the crap you hear on the news, and delivers one of his most heartfelt performances imaginable. There’s a very theatrical feel to this one, and a very gran atmosphere that’s only made stronger by the great buildup within these pianos. Then we have of course the absolutely explosion of every instrumental known to man in the chorus. “Sign of the Times” is filled with truly chilling moments, and is just a fantastic tune. There’s all sorts of influences from classic rock to more modern stuff like Oasis (don’t tell me you don’t hear the “Stop Crying Your Heart Out” or “Don’t Look Back In Anger” influence). It’s just a fantastic pop song. Harry clings on even harder to this “Classic Rock” sound with “Carolina”, and ends up piling up plenty of funk on top of it as well. But to be honest, this one isn’t as flattering. While it certainly has a groove and gets me moving, I have no idea why Harry is even touching this sound. The last few tracks have come off as class tributes, but “Carolina” comes off like he's trying way too hard. It’s catchy, but at the same time I feel like it’s not coming off nearly as flawlessly and glamorously. What’s even worse is that I seriously feel like Harry is ripping off The 1975 in some weird way. Which is totally bizarre, because let’s be honest The 1975 are basically Indie’s One Direction. Plus, Harry just sounds sleazy as hell, and I for one can’t take that seriously if I had to. Sure, I’d put this in the “guilty pleasure” pile, but I’m not going to sit here and defend this one. “Two Ghosts” is up next, and if Harry is going to continue to go all out with this Classic Rock vibe, this is certainly much more of a suitable sound for Harry. He can put in the cute lyrics that he’s piled up on over the years in One Direction, and not to mention this sort of bluesy vibe here is actually coming off seriously nice. The hook works, the smokey atmosphere comes off great, and most importantly it all comes off naturally. So take that Sleazy Harry, this much more straightforward sound is so much more genuine.
So maybe you’ve realized by now, but this album has seriously been back and forth, which really ends up hurting it in the long run. “Sweet Creature” is up next, and to be honest of the two singles this one comes off far less effective for me. Personally, I feel like I really can’t take these folky songs seriously at all. However there are parts of this that I really dig. For example, I love Harry’s very bluesy and passionate performance. But this could have just been so much bigger instrumentally and it wouldn’t have been nearly as ridiculously cheesy. “Only Angel” however brings us right back to a much heavier and epic atmosphere that I can certainly appreciate. When Harry really focuses on these tracks, he care actually churn out some seriously gigantic stuff. Honestly, I hate to say this, but I can certainly groove to this track. Once again, on “Only Angel” we see Harry clinging to classic rock icons for dear life. However, you can’t deny just how funky this one is, and if he’s going for more of a sexier and sleazy sound, this is miles ahead of earlier attempts. Now, am I going to be playing this one around my friends and singing all the words? Well no, BUT, I’m most likely going to be humming this one tomorrow in the shower and and even on my way to work. Then we have tracks like “Kiwi”, which I hear and I certainly get what Harry was going for. But this sound left rock music for a reason, and 30 seconds in this track is already coming off ridiculously dated. Earlier tracks, while I didn’t like all of them, at least came off as classy and we’re interesting. Most of all, those tracks came off as Harry Styles saluting the music of these eras nicely. But on “Kiwi” he’s just ripping is all off in some half hearted attempt to sound like he’s going for a super classic sound. Sadly, “Ever Since New York” isn’t really any better at all. I feel like I’ve fallen into the cheesiest 80’s track ever. And I like cheesy throwbacks if they’re done right, but this isn’t flattering at all. I can certainly say this is a little more serious of an attempt from Harry, but why the hell does it sound like he’s ripping off Hootie & The Blowfish?! I don’t know what the hell happened here honestly. The earlier sounds on here were so interesting and ha me feeling hopeful for Harry, but this one comes off honestly like One Direction. However, in this case, I honestly would rather Harry go full blown pop if he’s going to sit around and give us half hearted pop rock.
Harry doesn’t completely let me down though. Despite the seriously cheesy and awful intro to “Woman”, I actually really like the vibe on this one. This is sort of a sleazy, steamy slow jam. But once again, I can certainly take this a whole lot more over some of the earlier attempts at this sound. This actually ends up coming off legitimately sexy, and I love the very laid back atmosphere and Harry’s very bluesy performance. If I’m being honest, if Harry came out with more material like this, I would be a hundred times more into his solo career. But for every track like “Woman”, theres an unbearable track like “From The Dining Table”, which Harry felt the need to end this album with. These slower, folkier jams Harry, buddy they’re not cutting it. To be honest, this is about 2 notes away from an Ed Sheeran track. Harry, I’d love to support this album, I really would, but I can’t.
Rating: 6.3/10
Give A Listen To: “Sign Of The Times”, “Two Ghosts”, “Only Angel”, Woman"
Overall Thoughts: Hearing singles like "Sign Of The Times", this album could have been awesome. Consistency is an issue with Harry, mostly in the sound that he's aiming for. There are some tracks on here that show Harry gracefully saluting the sounds of Rock's past in a very grandiose way. However there are just as many moments on here that have Harry coming off sounding like someone whose desperately trying to sound retro. There are times on here where Harry can actually pull off a sexier sound, but there are just as few on here that come off laughably cheesy. This album could have been so good, but it's seriously all over the place.
No comments:
Post a Comment